All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells *****

All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Murderbot is a Security Unit constructed from organic and inorganic parts with a governor to control the organic parts’ human tendencies. Murderbot hacked the governor. Now, he resembles a powerful augmented human. Not Asimov’s robot.

This book, first in the series, is Murderbot’s origin story. If the company discovered the hacked governor, Murderbot would be destroyed. Murderbot did his best to maintain the fiction that the governor was operating. However, he made exceptions to watch entertainment media. “It’s downloaded seven hundred hours of entertainment programming since we landed. Mostly serials. Mostly something called Sanctuary Moon.” It also made an exception to protect his clients. This is Science Fiction in the classic style: space travel, robots, technology.

His client is the PreservationAux Survey Team, headed by Dr. Mensah. This team of scientists is isolated on a planet with a damaged planetary survey package. The other survey team on the planet, DeltFall, has been murdered. PreservationAux is ill-prepared to defend themselves. The only hope is Murderbot and his hacked governor.

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My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende *****

My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

Emelia was born in San Francisco in 1866. Her mother was a novice nun and a virgin when she met the dashing, aristocratic Mr. Gonzalo Andrés del Valle. He returned to Chile before Emelia was born. Emelia was a strong, independent woman.

Emelia grew up in the Mission District with her mother, Molly Walsh, and her father, Papo. When she was old enough to contribute to the family, she wrote dime novels in English and Spanish under the name of Brandon J. Price. Next, she took a job as a columnist using the same pseudonym. After the paper sent her to NYC, she took the job of war correspondent, under her own name, for the Chilean Civil War in 1891, where she tracked down her biological father. This is a historical novel with a strong female protagonist.

“Emilia is a wild and bright spirit.”

In NYC, Emelia eagerly learned about the pleasures of sex from Owen Whelan. He introduced her to a doctor who provided her with a diaphragm and instructions to use condoms to avoid infections. Omene, the divine odalisque (belly dancer), taught her about men. Docility and eagerness to please, celebrated qualities in a woman, were grave obstacles to moving up in the world.

With these worldly lessons learned, Emelia was ready to join the ranks of war correspondents reporting on the 1891 Chilean Civil War. She split the beat with Eric Whelan. She reported on President José Manuel Balmaceda, and Eric reported on the rebels. Eventually, they fell in love and got engaged.

Emelia was on the defeated side of the war. Her wartime friends, journalist Rodolfo León, and canteen girl Angelita Ayalef died in the conflict. Her only surviving friend was the yellow dog, Covadonga.

Pauline del Valle was a powerful matriarch whom Emelia eventually won over.

This is a story of a modern, liberated woman set in 19th-century San Francisco and Chile.

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The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock & Fernette Eide *****

The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock & Fernette Eide

Research has shown that dyslexia comes with advantages, such as visualizing 3D spaces and objects, recognizing novel connections, creating stories, and predicting the future. If you are dyslexic or care about someone who is dyslexic, read this book now.

Reading challenges are the most well-known characteristics of dyslexia. These challenges range from not recognizing letters and not being able to decode words to not understanding or retaining what has been read. For example, I misread words, read slowly, and have difficulty understanding or retaining what I’ve read. Despite these challenges, I had a successful career in high technology and now write novels in my retirement. This book explains the connection between my challenges and successes.

The first piece of good news is that reading difficulties lessen with time. “However, the lessons from these meta-analyses must certainly rank as one of the most important messages of this book for young dyslexic individuals: Don’t lose hope when you begin to feel that you are the last tree in the garden to blossom. Your day is coming. Time really is on your side.”

“These four MIND strengths are Material reasoning, Interconnected reasoning, Narrative reasoning, and Dynamic reasoning.”

Material reasoning has to do with understanding 3D objects and spaces. This may involve a sense of direction or the design of mechanical systems. For example, when I moved from Massachusetts to Utah, as a poor college student, I rented a van and figured out how to pack the contents of my apartment into it. On moving day, everything fitted into the van exactly as planned.

Interconnected reasoning is the ability to find unexpected connections. For example, my PhD dissertation was a novel way to design electronic circuits. The seed of my solution came from an algorithm invented for computer graphics.

Narrative reason is about combining knowledge into stories. Like many dyslexics, rote memorization doesn’t work for me. When required to memorize formulas for math classes, I chose instead to learn the derivations (stories) of the formulas. I could learn not formulas (rote memorization), but I could learn the stories (derivations).

Dynamic learning. I can construct a model of a process and simulate that model into the future. These skills made me an engineering vice president with a reputation for completing projects on time.

This book helped me understand my different behaviors. In college, I never missed a lecture, but also rarely completed the reading. I do not fear failures but look at them as opportunities to improve. I am addicted to novelty. All of these are part of the dyslexic advantage.

A must-read book for anyone living with dyslexia.

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The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman ****

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

Four pensioners (ex-spy Elizabeth, former trade union organizer Ron, psychiatrist Ibrahim, retired nurse Joyce) search for £350 million in bitcoins co-owned by Nick Silver and Holly Lewis. Nick disappears. Holly is blown up by a car bomb. Cozy mystery.

Elizabeth’s daughter, Joanna, marries Paul Brett. Paul’s best man is Nick Silver. Holly Lewis doesn’t attend the wedding. Ron’s daughter, Suzi, is married to Danny Lloyd. He is abusive, and she sends him away at gunpoint. Their son, Kendrick, stays with his mother’s family. Drug dealer Connie takes juvenile delinquent Tai under her wing.

Nick Silver and Holly Lewis are business partners in The Compound, an underground high-security storage facility for offline storage (aka safety deposit boxes). This is where they store the key for the £350 million in bitcoins. The storage unit requires a 12-digit code. Nick knows six digits, and Holly knows the other six. If either of them dies, a solicitor delivers that code to the other one. Unfortunately, Holly has been blown up by a car bomb, Nick has disappeared, and no one can locate the solicitor.

Some quotes:

“A bit worried, yeah,” says Ron, looking at the gun. “If you kill Ron, I kill you,” says Bogdan. “With what?” says Davey. “Bare hands,” says Bogdan. “Yes, please, what a way to go,” says Davey. “And if I kill you?” “Then Elizabeth will kill you,” says Bogdan. “Who’s Elizabeth?” “You don’t want to find out,” says Bogdan.

Clever people, by which I mean Ibrahim or Elizabeth, are happiest when something is unusual, or unexpected, or not at all what you think, but normal people, me and Ron, that sort of person, like it when a tree is a tree and a shoe is a shoe, and a drug dealer is a murderer.

A wild ride with a satisfying ending.

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Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass ****

Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass

Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass leads with its message as the title. Once the story begins, Laura's life is depressing, death and disappointment. Powerfully, she survives with brief moments of gratitude and self-care. A subtle reminder to rest and be thankful.

Laura is a pediatric nurse in a halfway unit for newborns. Babies with the most severe issues go to intensive care. Those who strengthen and thrive go home. Laura’s infants have three paths: NICU, home, and death. Laura also cares for the parents. In her personal life, she loves her boyfriend, but he is not good for her. How does she survive? Rest and be thankful.

Laura starts her day with gratitude. I try to love this part of the day because I won’t see daylight for the next twelve hours. I try to love London but London doesn’t love me, doesn’t love itself. I love this morning light but I can’t love the grime, the concrete, the dead pigeon. … Poor Pigeon does get a little bit of my love, but I must keep some in reserve.

Once at the hospital, Laura tries gratitude again. Not sweaty. But not fresh. I feel grim. I hate starting the day this way. I dig into the pockets for surprises. My name badge, a pen (bonus), a crumpled hand towel with a phone number scrawled on it (X-ray), a handful of saline ampoules (shit, thank goodness I didn’t take home actual medication) and a single piece of chewing gum with a little coat of dust. I wipe the dust off and pop the gum in my mouth and let my teeth sink in. Glorious saliva pours, the tingle of strong mint floods my tongue. A small spurt of joy.

Laura cares for the babies and the parents. Our baby is back in oxygen, but the cannula is rubbing the skin under his nose, it’s so sore, I’ve kept him uncovered, he has cried all night. The doctor upped his morphine, fentanyl is going in, he desperately needs a pain review today. They want to do a scan but he’s probably not safe for transfer. They should take him down to intensive care but intensive care won’t take him because he’s managing his airway, just. Mum has been awake with me most of the night.

The hospital tries to comfort the parents of dead babies. Someone has put milk in the milk jug. Someone has arranged the teacups on saucers with handles all pointing in the same direction. There are fucking biscuits. The china is bone white with blood-red flowers running over the rims, dripping down the sides. This is the death china. This is brought out for families when their children die.

Laura’s boyfriend is self-centered and not supportive. Your eyes are on me. I tear the bread and dip it in the soup. I chew slowly, quietly, the butter melts on my tongue, rich and delicious. You tell me that if you’d known I was going to cook you wouldn’t have eaten so much crap. Your eyes are big and watery, you are gruff and slurring a little from sleep and booze. ‘If I had known I would have to cook, I would’ve stopped for something on the way home. I am starving, I didn’t have a lunch break today,’ I tell you.

The nurses support each other. They are barely hanging on. I help Amir with the drugs. I check his and he checks mine, we correct each other’s mistakes.

Optimism. I rock him and I feel like singing. In this holding, I am healing, he is dreaming and I feel content. This is where I’m supposed to be. This is why I’m here. A sick baby on his way to being well. On his way to being well because of surgery, medication, holding, sleeping, something. I wish I knew which one it was because then we could do more. Save more babies. Sometimes none of it works. I think about this all of the time.

Rest and be thankful.

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Peyton Place by Grace Metalious *****

 Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

In 1956, women had ambitions and desires. Men who didn’t respect them died. Who knew? And all in a small New England town. Peyton Place. The book was banned, but the ideas exploded into the women’s liberation movement. Not the book you were told it was.

The rich men from the old families ran Peyton Place. They had big houses and controlled the town. The poor mill workers lived in tar paper shacks without plumbing. However, Constance, an unwed, single mother, owned the Thrifty Corner Apparel Shoppe, a successful, expanding business. She raised her daughter, Allison, and provided opportunities for other women in town. Leslie Harrington owned Cumberland Mills. He employed the people living in the shacks and controlled the town selectmen and the bank. In the end, he lost everything.

Nothing is sugar-coated. Lucas Cross lives in a shack, drinks, beats his wife, and rapes his daughter, Selena. His wife commits suicide, but Selena prevails. Leslie Harrington is responsible for Kathy Ellsworth losing her right arm. No Peyton Place jury would go against him, but she also prevails.

Leslie raises his son, Rodney, to be a spoiled bully. Rodney dodges the World War II draft but gets his comeuppance in the end. The town doctor, Matthew Swain, performs an illegal abortion, but it turns out fine. Throughout the book, the 1956 status quo is subverted. Peyton Place was named for a runaway slave.

People have many opinions on this book. I like to think that the author, Grace Metalious, and the protagonist, Allison MacKenzie, are opening new vistas for the women of Peyton Place, but others read the book differently. The version I read had a long introduction by Ardis Cameron (ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1555534004).

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Fractured by Karin Slaughter *****

 Fractured by Karin Slaughter

 

Abigail Campano discovers her daughter Emma brutally murdered. She is attacked by Adam, a teen boy, but she defends herself and strangles him. Thus, begins the next case for Will Trent. A thriller.

 

Emma wasn’t murdered. She was abducted. Abigail wasn’t attacked by Adam, but she really killed him. Another girl, Kayla, was the one murdered. That was still in the first chapter!

 

Will Trent was raised by the state, no parents. He has dyslexia. He can barely read or write. Regardless, he is observant and intuitive. He is a great detective. His boss at the GBI tries to micromanage him while also respecting his skills.

 

Will is paired with Faith Mitchell from the Atlanta PD. She can’t figure out Will, while appreciating that he isn’t misogynistic like everyone at the APD. She works hard and is a good detective.

 

The book is about sex abuse, abuse of minors, and torture. However, most of the action is reported, not shown.

 

A fast-moving story.

 

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The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown ****

 The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

 

When Mr. Webber dies in Kellner’s Books, he leaves The Book of Doors to Cassie Andrews. With that book, “Any door is very door.” Cassie can teleport anywhere in space and time. She has many adventures with this and other magic books. A clever and confusing book.

 

The magic books include Illusions, Shadows, Joy, Control, Matter, Safety, Pain, Luck, and Memories. The books are worth millions to collectors. Librarian Bernard Fox wants to preserve them. The Bookseller was to auctions them off for her 40% cut. Dr. Hugo Barbary wants them for their power. Cassie is on the side of good against evil.

 

The illusions make it difficult to follow the convoluted plot. Characters that appear to be in jeopardy (or even dead) often are part of an illusion.

 

“There are two ideas about time travel. There is the open model of time travel and the closed model, ja? In the open model, you can travel into the past and change events so that your present is consequently changed also. This is what you see in science fiction stories.” This book uses the closed model. Nothing can change what has already happened. The plot makes many interesting uses of this.

 

This book is a clever battle between good and evil using time travel and magic. Occasionally, too clever.

 

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce ****

 The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Harold receives a letter from Queenie, whom he hasn’t seen in 20 years. She is in hospice. He believes she will not die for as long as it takes him to walk to her. The walk is also his penance for his life’s sins. The walk goes viral. A novel of redemption.

Harold and his wife, Maureen, lived in the same house. She took care of the house, made meals, and did the laundry. She slept in the guest room, and he slept in the master bedroom. Their son disappeared (drug, alcohol) after Cambridge. Only Maureen communicated with David. Both Harold and Maureen blame Harold for David’s problems. Harold was a successful beer salesman until he was demoted. He is depressed. The walk gives his life purpose.

After receiving the letter from Queenie Hennessy, Harold decided to walk from Kingsbridge to Berwick-upon-Tweed. He is ill-prepared in terms of fitness, experience, and equipment. He has yachting shoes instead of hiking shoes. He left his cell phone at home. Later, he mailed his wallet and debit card back to Maureen. When totally dependent on the goodwill of others, he is like a pilgrim of yore. “What you’re doing is a pilgrimage for the twenty-first century. It’s awesome. Yours is the kind of story people want to hear.”During the pilgrimage, Harold meets many people. Most of the people he met were good, and Harold didn’t dwell on the others.

During their separation, Harold and Maureen reviewed their relationship and reevaluated it.

English humor: “What do you call two robbers?” he heard her ask. This time, they were back in the car. “I beg your pardon?” “It’s a joke,” she’d said. “Oh, I see. Very good. I don’t know. What do you call them?” “A pair of knickers.”

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Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (Historical novel) *****

 Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay(Historical novel)

The dark side of California history. The Filipino immigrant experience. From the Spanish-American War to farm laborers to World War II allies to anti-Asian sentiments in the 21^st century, the US relationship with the Philippines has been difficult.

Over the centuries, immigrants came to California for work. There were the 19th-century Chinese who came for mining and railroad work. The Okies during the Depression for farm labor. Mexican guest-workers in the 1960s. This book is about the Filipino experience.  Each Filipino generation faced its own challenges: “Manong Generation, the Watsonville riots, Stockton’s Little Manila, the Delano grape strike, the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr., and the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This book explores the relationship between the Philippines and the United States. Between the Spanish-American War and World War II, Filipinos were non-citizen US nationals. People like Francisco could immigrate. As Francisco learned, he was not a citizen and was not welcome. Francisco faced brutal racism. During WWII, Filipinos were promised citizenship, but this didn’t happen.

The Filipino experiences of racism and discrimination are shared with other minorities. They were grouped with other Asians during the Asian backlash during COVID-19, and with Mexicans during the California farm labor movement. This book is valuable for focusing on Filipino history instead of combining it with some other group.

A historical novel that is hard to read at times.

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

Longlisted for the National Book Award

Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award

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Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (coming-of-age) *****

Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (coming-of-age novel)

Four generations of fathers and sons. Francisco, Emil, Chris, Enzo. Each father wants his son to benefit from his experience. Each son wants to set off in his own direction. Each generation lives in a different society. How can they span the generation gap?

Francisco arrived in the United States in 1929, looking for a better life for himself and his family back in the Philippines. He faced racism and brutality and fought back as a farm labor organizer. His son, Emil, resented that his father was rarely home. He responded by being apolitical and choosing school and assimilation. He became an engineer. His son, Chris, felt secure enough to pursue his heritage and personal interests. He became a high school history teacher. His son, Enzo, is still in high school.

The book presents narratives. Each boy navigates his teen years, struggling to find a place in a world unknown to his father, while his father offers obsolete and out-of-touch advice. The book chronicles four generations of a Filipino family. The generational conflicts are universal and reflect US societal changes.  This is not a book specific to Filipino families. For example, like many others of his generation, Emil responds to the Depression and WWII by seeking conservative security. Similarly, Enzo’s goals and aspirations reflect many teens who experienced COVID-19 lockdowns.

Four coming-of-age stories spread across time.

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

Longlisted for the National Book Award

Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award

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It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover *****

 It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Lily Bloom hated that her mother stayed with her abusive father. At 23, she married neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. His sister Allysa was Lily’s best friend. Unfortunately, Ryle had a temper. Lily found herself in the same situation as her mother. Stay or go?

When Lily was 15, she fell in love with Atlas Corrigan. He lived in an abandoned house behind Lily in Plethora, Maine. When her violent father caught them together, he beat Atlas with a baseball bat. She went to college, and he joined the Marines. At 23, she took her inheritance to open a flower shop. Lily Blossom Bloom opened a flower shop in Boston. There she met Ryle and Allysa. She also ran into Atlas. She married Ryle and became pregnant before she realized that Ryle was abusive, like her father was. She loved the father of her child. What should she do?

This is a romance. The sex scenes are detailed and long, while the abuse scenes are truncated.

The book’s subplots have many enjoyable, but not surprising, twists. However, the book never ventures far from the question of domestic abuse. What is the impact of abuse on the abused spouse? What causes domestic abuse? What is the impact on the next generation? The author presents the cases with empathy for all parties, but in the end, she passes judgment.

This is a fast read and an exploration of dysfunctional families. The book idolizes Ellen DeGeneres and Dory from Finding Nemo.

The novel won the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance.

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The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes ***

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

When Maya was seventeen, she watched her boyfriend Frank murder her girlfriend Aubrey. She didn’t know how he did it, and no one believed her. Seven years later, she saw him murder another girl, on video, on social media. She returned to her hometown (Pittsfield) in western Massachusetts to solve the mystery. Horror.

She met Frank in the library and soon came under his spell. She had a full-ride scholarship to Boston University with enrollment starting in a few weeks. She considered taking a gap year to be with Frank. After Franck murdered Aubrey, she left Pittsfield to enroll in BU. She returned seven years later after she saw a video online where Cristina Lewis died sitting across the table from Frank. From her experience with Aubrey, she knew she couldn’t accuse Frank without evidence.

Frank is a powerful, murdering, controlling monster. Frank represents men who control and abuse women. When the women accuse the men, they are not believed, and instead of investigating the men, society treats the women with psychotherapy and drugs. That was Maya’s experience. Frank takes women to his cabin in the woods, where they have detailed fond memories of the cabin, but also blackouts where they do not remember anything for hours.

Part of the response to Maya’s insistence that Frank murdered Aubrey is that her mother sends her to Dr. Barry, who prescribes Klonopin (Clonazepam), a benzodiazepine medication used to prevent and treat anxiety disorders, seizures, bipolar mania, and OCD. It is a long-acting tranquilizer. Maya becomes dependent on it and alcohol. Seven years later, another doctor prescribed mirtazapine, a prescription antidepressant used to treat major depressive disorder.

Author Ana Reyes is half Guatemalan. Her paternal grandparents and father, all of whom grew up in Guatemala, left the country while her father was 11 due to regional instability precipitated by American interference. The book includes a subplot about Maya’s father, who was murdered in Guatemala when Maya was young. Shortly after Aubrey was murdered, Maya and her mother, Brenda, visit her father’s village, where Maya retrieves her father’s unfinished novel. Maya wants to be a writer.

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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: A Cozy Romance by Sangu Mandanna *****

 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: A Cozy Romance by Sangu Mandanna *****

Mika Moon was raised by Primrose, the matriarch of The Very Secret Society of Witches. The rule was that witches must live alone. Mika was in trouble when she agreed to teach the three young witches living together at Nowhere House. A cozy romance. Five stars.

Mika’s childhood provided everything except friends and love. All witches were orphans, and whenever any of her tutors or nannies got close to Mike, Primrose cleared their memory and sent them away. At Nowhere House, she broke all of Primrose’s rules. Regardless, she struggled to trust anyone. Can love at Nowhere House overcome Mika’s childhood insecurities and feelings of worthlessness?

Nowhere House is set up by Lillian with wards to keep the three young witches (Rosetta, 10, Terracotta, 8, Altamira, 7) safe from the outside world. Unfortunately, Lillian is rarely home. Lucie is the housekeeper. Ian and Ken were an older gay couple, gardeners, and handymen. Jamie was the grumpy librarian. Mika is attracted to the girls and especially to Ian. The people at Nowhere House have a secret and refuse to let Mike get too close, which triggers all her insecurities from her childhood. 

This is a coming-of-age story where Mika challenges the rules she grew up with.

The world of witches, their powers and vulnerabilities, is beautifully constructed. The personification of magic is beautiful. A fast-moving and enjoyable book.

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Afterlife by Julia Alvarez ****

 Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

Antonia struggles to find herself after her husband’s death. She stages an intervention to save her eldest sister. She aids undocumented Mario, a worker at her neighbor’s farm, in rescuing his fiancée from the coyotes. She is always asking, Who is the most important? A meditation on life after death.

Antonia was an English Literature professor and related her struggles to classic literature, particularly Tolstoy’s three questions: What is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? In her quest to find herself after her husband, Sam, dies, she returns to the second question and reminds herself that she is the most important person. She grapples with the forces around her not to get lost in the lives of others.

Antonia is the second of four sisters. Her oldest sister, Izzy, is erratic. Izzy plans an artists’ sanctuary, rescues llamas, and disappears. The two younger sisters want Antonia to join their intervention to place Izzy into Liberty House for evaluation and treatment. Antonia is not convinced that this is the right direction, but the sisters and their sisterhood pressure her into participation.

Mario is an undocumented worker at Antonia’s neighbor’s farm. First, he wants her to help rescue Estela from the coyotes in Colorado. He addresses her as doñita. Antonia is from the Dominican Republic, but since she speaks Spanish, everyone in Vermont lumps her together with all Latinas. She doesn’t want to get involved, but eventually she brings Estela to Vermont. When Estela is discovered to be pregnant, Antonia is drawn deeper into her life.

Before her husband’s death, Antonia’s life was anchored by Sam. They had established roles. For example, Sam was the good cop and Antonia was the bad cop. Now in the afterlife, Antonia is lost. A meditation on life after death.

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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt ******

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Two lost people: Tova Sullivan, 70, lost her only child, Erik, when he was 18. Cameron Cassmore, 30, was raised by his aunt and is searching for his father. Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, saves them. 6/5 stars.

Tova Sullivan lived in the house her Swedish father had built. By the time he finished the playroom in the attic, Tova and her brother Lars were too old. Tova’s grandchildren should have played there, but her son Erik mysteriously disappeared when he was 18. No grandchildren. She is the night cleaner at the aquarium to keep busy. At 70, she will sell the house and move into Charter Village Long-Term Care Center, where her brother lived until his death.

Cameron Cassmore was raised in California by his Aunt Jeanne. He’s been fired from every job he’d had. He’d never met his father, but a box of his mother’s things matched her with Simon Brinks, the rich developer. His father! He leaves California for Washington state to track down his deadbeat dad without any funds or a plan.  To support himself, he takes a temp job as a night cleaner at the Sowell Bay Aquarium.

The hero is Marcellus, a very intelligent giant Pacific octopus. Marcellus is bored in his tank, but he watches the people and escapes at night. Marcellus figures out how the story ends long before any of the people. With his help, the people catch up. His closing words are, “Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”

Other characters:

Ethan Mack owns the Shop-Way and knows everybody's business.

Avery, 32, owns the Sowell Bay Paddle Shop.

“There were once seven Knit-Wits. Now there are four. Every few years brings another empty place at the table.” Tova, Mary Ann Minetti, Janice Kim, Barb Vanderhoof.

Through serendipity and Marcellus, everything works out in the end. Good things happen to good people. A wonderful read.

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Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell ***

 Someone You Can Build a Nest In by JohnWiswell

A complicated romantasy about a human princess, Homily, and a shapeshifting mass of gray flesh, Shesheshen [Mandarin for Thank God]. 2025 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Homily’s mother, the Baroness, wants to kill the wyrm Shesheshen for cursing her family.

The story takes place in the city of Underlook on the isthmus between L’Etat Bon (The Good State) and the Engmars.

Shesheshen (谢谢神 or Thank God) was born in a nest of her father. At first, the nestlings survived by consuming their father, but as they grew, they turned to cannibalism. Shesheshen was the sole survivor. Her sole companion was a large blue bear that she named Blueberry. She was a shapeshifter comprised of a gray blob, who the humans called a wyrm and a monster. She could only be killed by poison with rosemary oil.

The Baroness Wulfyre’s family was cursed by the wyrm. The Baroness killed Shesheshen’s mother, and wears her mother’s teeth around her neck. The Baroness wants the wyrm killed to end the curse, and she wants the wyrm’s beating heart. Her children, oldest to youngest, are Catharsis (only son), Homily, Epigram, and Ode.

The Baroness’s oldest son, Catharsis, and two professional wyrm killers (Rourke, senior, and Malik, younger) hunt Shesheshen. Catharsis injures Shesheshen with a barbed crossbow bolt, poisoned with rosemary oil, but Shesheshen kills him. The professional killers chase Shesheshen until she falls into a ravine, where she is rescued by Homily, who extracts the crossbow bolt and cures Shesheshen. Shesheshen assumes the shape of a human (Siobhan). Siobhan and Homily fall in love.

Why only three stars for this Nebula Award winner? First, I found it difficult to read. I couldn’t discern a clear story arc. The major twists were obvious in advance, while the characters' objectives remained a mystery. Also, the “Someone” in the title never appears, leading to more confusion. I read this for a book club; otherwise, I would have DNF it.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations. 

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett *****

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

PJ wants to marry his high school sweetheart, whom he hasn’t seen in forty-five years. Ten-year-old Luna wants to find her biological father, a soap opera star.  Pancakes, the orange cat, who can read and sense impending death, is along for the ride. Don’t miss this one.

PJ is an alcoholic, but when Fred invites him to be the best man at his wedding to PJ’s ex-wife, Ivy, PJ decides to become sober. When Fred and Ivy leave for a vacation to Alaska, PJ feels abandoned. Fortunately, PJ learns that his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, has been widowed. He decides to drive from Massachusetts to Arizona to marry “the one who got away.” Also, when the grandchildren of PJ’s estranged brother, Chip, become orphans, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families gives PJ guardianship of Ollie and Luna, nine- and ten-year-old Irish twins. This is a comedy. Enjoy it.

This is how author Annie Hartnett explains the book: “And I decided I would make that novel as funny as I possibly could. That was my challenge to myself: to put everything bad I could think of in there and make it my funniest book yet. Humor is how I have always coped with anxiety and fear and terror and discomfort, so I wanted to make it all terrible but also very funny. Things are so horrendously bad, let’s laugh about it!”

Ollie and Luna are happy to live with PJ instead of going into foster care. He won $1.5 million in the lottery. He bought them a trampoline and iPads. However, what Luna wants is to confront the soap opera star Mark Stackpole. Her research through her mother’s papers has convinced her that her mother was in a ménage à trois that included Mark, and that Mark is her true father. She convinces PJ to help her find Mark.

PJ had two daughters. Kate, his older daughter, died after Prom, drunk, drowned in two inches of water. Sophie, seven years younger, has lost her job. She also feels abandoned by her mother, Ivy, and fiancé Fred.

PJ, Sophie, Ollie, Luna, and Pancakes steal Fred’s Volvo for a road trip to find Mark Stackpole and Michelle Cobb. During the trip, PJ discovers he is down to his last $20,000.

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Banana by Dan Koeppel *****

Banana by Dan Koeppel

What do you know? Banana companies are evil. Bananas are popular. Learn more… They are hard to grow and harder to breed. They are sterile. Bananas are a staple food in Africa. The yellow ones in the store are Cavendish. All clones. All at risk. Learn more.

Once all the yellow (dessert) bananas were Gros Michel (Big Mike). They were delicious. They were easy to ship. They were perfect. However, they were vulnerable to Panama Disease. So they were over by Cavendish. Cavendish was second best, but it was resistant to Panama disease. However, Cavendish is now vulnerable to an evolved Panama disease and other banana threats. After 50-plus years of research, there is no replacement for Cavendish.

Good news, bad news. Bananas are seedless. Bananas are sterile. They cannot be cross-bred like other plants. People do not want GMO bananas. After 50-plus years of research, there is no replacement for Cavendish.

Cooking bananas (plantains) are a staple in Africa. They stand between many people and starvation. These bananas are threatened by the same pests that threaten dessert bananas. However, while people in the first world might have to do without sliced bananas for breakfast, in Africa, people are starving.

The Wallace Line is a boundary where flora and fauna have been separated by plate tectonics for long periods of time. This line not only divides plants and animals, but also fungi and bacteria. When bananas are bred to resist microorganisms on one side of a Wallace line, they may fall to a similar organism on the other side. This is one more complication in finding a resistant banana in the global banana environment, where organic matter travels over the international trade routes.

Caveat: While the book covers the science of bananas, much more is spent on the injustices the banana companies of the north brought to the topics, including unstable governments, poor working conditions (cancer, sterility, etc.), and land theft.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations.